It is often desired to monitor the progress and performance of an object in motion (OIM) along the course of a static route. The monitoring of a single OIM, when there are multiple OIMs moving along the same route, can be difficult. The monitoring of the OIMs may be accomplished through use of video recording, audio recording, or continuous measurement of environmental parameters. Long distance routes and large numbers of OIMs lead to the use of multiple video cameras, audio recorders, or other measurement devices associated with defined route portions. Very common applications of OIM monitoring include the following situations: marathon races (a large number of participants, a moderate velocity, a long route); NASCAR® automotive races (a moderate number of participants, a high velocity, many repetitions of a moderately long route); golf matches (a moderate number of participants, a low velocity, a moderately long route); and manufacturing production environments (a large number of OIMs, a low velocity, a relatively short route). (NASCAR® is a registered trademark of National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, Inc.)
In the case of athletic performance or competition, the OIM is most commonly a participant in the event. It is often desirable to monitor the progress of a particular participant both in a real time environment (as the event is happening) and in a post-production customized video recording of the performance after the event is concluded. Traditional video coverage of, e.g., racing events or golf tournaments tend to focus on the leaders or individual outstanding performances of other participants and the final video production of the event typically consists of a single version of edited content. Analysis of the performance of a single participant often requires dedicated camera operators or extensive, labor-intensive video editing tasks to reduce raw camera video feeds to customized post-production video results.
Innovation in such sporting events, such as NASCAR race coverage, includes video cameras mounted in or on individual cars, and fixed video cameras aimed at certain pit areas. It is prohibitively expensive to provide the same level of coverage for all cars in the race, or for all participants in other sporting events, such as in a marathon race or golf match. The final video product will not be of much help to a mid-level participant if the resulting content mostly features coverage of the leaders.
In a manufacturing production environment, monitoring devices may include fixed cameras, microphones, thermometers, barometers, and other sensory instruments to provide total coverage of work in process (WIP) moving through manufacturing sectors. However, analysis of a single OIM through these manufacturing sectors is extremely difficult to produce, and typically must be done in an essentially manual technique, such as visually scanning through long sections of video to determine and track the object of interest.